Raiders Playoff Hopes Dashed on Sunday Night in Loss vs. Cowboys

Welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders' Week 15 matchup vs. the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football where the playoff hopes of the Raiders may have just been broken as the Raiders lose to the Cowboys 20-17.

This game is probably going to be added in Raiders' infamy. There was the "Immaculate Reception." The "Tuck Game." And now, this game will be known as the "Index Card" game. The 4th and 1 where the Cowboys elected to go for it truly decided the outcome of the game. If Dallas gets it, they get to chew more clock. If they don't, Oakland has the ball and set up a possible game-winning drive. Referees couldn't determine the measurement, so they used a index card. From the point of the refs, it looked like the tip of the ball went over the border of the index card. I'm looking at another angle that someone posted on the Raider Nation forum, it looked like there was separation between the tip of the football and the index card and likely Dak would've been stopped short. That was one story of the game. The other story was Derek Carr's fatal mistake. He played relatively well. It's just that he tried to go for the home run TD run when he could've just stepped out of bounds after getting the first down. They have one more timeout and have enough time to take a shot in the end zone, but Carr fumbles in the end zone and that was a gut-wrenching finish and it summed up the Raiders' 2017 in a nutshell.

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Derek Carr, 21 of 38 passes, 171 yards, 2 TDs, 4 carries, 47 yards. The fumble that resulted in a touchback is a smear in his game. Probably got a little too greedy to play hero. But, we finally get to see Carr escape out of the pocket this game. We haven't seen that kind of mobility since last season before the broken fibula. That's what was missing this whole season was Carr's ability to scramble out of the pocket and use his legs to make plays. He had a big gainer in the third quarter, which set up the Raiders' first TD of the night. His numbers passing-wise were pedestrian, but his TD passes to Crabtree were on the money.

Michael Crabtree, 7 receptions, 39 yards, 2 TDs. Crabtree didn't have a big of a game with those 7 receptions on 17 targets, but with Coop out, obviously he's going to draw all the attention of the Cowboys' defense. Despite all that, he still hauled in 2 TDs and drew a big time PI penalty to keep the Raiders alive in the final minute of the game.

Khalil Mack, 6 tackles, 2 sacks. The Cowboys' elite offensive line was Mack's biggest test as a pass rusher. Not to mention, Mario Edwards Jr. was inactive this game so all the attention was drawn towards Mack and Irvin. But, Mack still delivered and was still able to wreak havoc in the pocket to get to Prescott.

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Special teams. This unit was the biggest turkey of the game. Outside of Marquette King's punting and Coradarrelle Patterson's returns, Giorgio Tavecchio missed a 30 yard field goal at the end of the 2nd quarter, which quietly costed the Raiders because they'd be talking a potential game-winning field goal at the end. Allowing the punter, Chris Jones to run free on a 4th and 11 fake punt in the 3rd quarter was absolutely inexcusable, although the Cowboys did execute the right blocks for that to happen. And of course, the penalties piled up mostly on the Special Teams unit. The Raiders can never catch a break on special teams penalties. It seems that every time the Raiders bust out a big return, flags are on the field and 100% of the time, it's either holding or illegal block in the back on the Raiders.

MVP
Derek Carr, 21 of 38 passes, 171 yards, 2 TDs, 4 carries, 47 yards

It's simple, if Carr runs it in with the ball secured, he's going to be praised for single-handedly winning the game for the Raiders. But it is what it is. The small, but solid performance from Carr tonight was what we were longing for since last season: escaping out of the pocket and taking shots down field in crunch time to potentially win the game. Obviously, it's too little too late for that this season. Hopefully, it translates next year and that swagger and poise from the 2016 season returns to form.

Conclusion

The crazy part about this is that the Raiders are not mathematically eliminated from the playoff hunt, but it's gonna take hundreds of scenarios for that to happen. So with that, it's time to officially pull the plug on a playoff appearance this season. The Raiders dug themselves into a ditch this season, and the hole was too deep for the Raiders to get out. These next two games, the team just has to play for pride and get to 8-8. It'll be a tough one in Philly next week. There is no way that the Eagles will hand over home field advantage in the NFC to the Minnesota Vikings that easily. Last time the Eagles played the Raiders with Nick Foles under center, Foles set an NFL record with 7 TDs. A lot has changed since then. I'll see you guys next week for a crazy Christmas Day on the blog.